Late to the Party

I've been under the weather with minor health stuff the last several months, and super busy at the day job, so I'm just not keeping up with all my jewelry to-do's. Unfortunately, one of those to-do's was the June Component of the Month challenge at Art Jewelry Elements. The reveal was Thursday July 3, but I missed it! However I'm feeling a bit better and had a long weekend with the holiday so I got busy!

June was hosted by the multi-talented Linda Landig, a jewelry artist who also creates beads and components in polymer clay, and now ceramics. (To visit her Etsy shop, click HERE!) Linda made a fabulous assortment of her new ceramic charms and focals available for the challenge:

Linda has been designing jewelry on and off for over 30 years, and started with metal. From there she moved on to beadwork, indulging her love of color, and eventually began making her own jewelry components and beads, first with polymer clay, and now with ceramics.

Back in May (when I was feeling perky--unfortunately that turned out to be an intermittent thing), I snagged one of those sweet little sunflower elements (and actually remembered to photograph it before I started my piece). I love the rustic texture of the stoneware.

I noodled over it, and had a general idea what I wanted to do with it, I just didn't have the get-up-and-go to do it. So when some of my energy came back this weekend, I already had it half-designed in my head. I knew I wanted to introduce some sky blue, and would probably use copper for the metal parts. I thought and thought about the bail for it, started and stopped some other approaches, and finally came up with this:

For this, I used one of my folded end cones that I talked about at AJE this morning. I just modified it by folding over only the very ends so that it's a rectangular shape. I created a large loop with wire at the top (the wire goes through the hole in the pendant and then both ends go up through the hole in the metal cap, where you can shape them as you wish.) I attached an open metal tube to the loop for hanging.

Here's the whole piece:

The longest strand is three lengths of cocoa-brown Irish waxed linen (I bought whole spools--SQUEEE!!!!--from Element Beads on Etsy) dotted with recycled glass flowers in light blue from Happy Mango Beads; the second strand is tiny lime green glass seed beads, also from Happy Mango (with some brown seed beads in "dirt brown" from Fusion Beads thrown in); and the last strand is larger 8/0 seed beads in cocoa brown (also from Fusion Beads), a few Indonesian glass seed beads in a wonderful sand color from Happy Mango, and one little corn-yellow seed bead from a local shop.

I used my end cones from this morning's AJE post on the ends, with deertan lace in cocoa brown and some of my hand-forged large oval chain.

Linda's stoneware sunflower perfectly complements my style! And I adore the warm colors she chose for her glazes.

You can also visit Linda at her Facebook page, and stop by her blog!

And be sure to visit the other participants and see their creations!

Guests

Ann Schroeder

Mischelle Andrade Fanucchi

Therese Frank

AJE Members

Susan Kennedy

Diana Ptaszynski

Linda Landig

LesleyWatt

MelissaMeman

Caroline Dewison

Francesca Watson

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Rebekah Payne

Kristen Stevens

Art Jewelry Elements May Component of the Month Reveal

Today is the day at Art Jewelry Elements when we reveal our designs created with lampwork glass components by the uber-talented Susan Kennedy of Sue Beads. Susan was always a lover of lampwork beads and started making them herself six years ago, and also now makes enameled components as well. I am so glad she decided to make beads, because I love them!!

Here is the delectable assortment that Susan offered for this month:

Flower Chiclets!!

And cabochons!!

I fell in love with the chiclets immediately (I haven't tried setting cabs yet and I was chicken to try under the gun so that might have had something to do with it--otherwise cab number 6 up there might have been mine!), and went for set number 4 up there (although number 1 was also extremely tempting):

Delicious!!

I initially was going to do a bracelet, but I couldn't figure out how to weight it properly with the beads I wanted to use--I was afraid the lampwork beads would have ended up in a heavy section that would always be hanging under the wrist so that you'd never see them, and I can't stand that--pet peeve of mine. So I opted for a necklace.

I really wanted to keep the tone earthy and rustic, and I just happened to have recently acquired a collection of fabulous recycled and Indonesian glass beads from Happy Mango Beads that I thought would be perfect:

Of course this color scheme cried out for copper!

I looked through my stash of metal components and found a large textured washer I had made a while ago--I decided to do a front toggle closure (it's so easy to make a focal section out of the clasp). And it even had flowers on it! (I was starting to feel the need to stay with flowers).

I debated knotting it but the holes in the beads were too big to make it really work so I opted for copper links. Because these recycled glass flowers are kind of funky and odd shaped, I didn't think wrapped loops would really work, so I used simple loops hammered flat to make them seat better in the beads.

Here is the configuration I eventually chose:

I just love the subtle detail, and quietly whimsical quality these little chiclets add to a piece of jewelry!! And I'm a sucker for that tablet shape, I don't know what it is about coins and tablets...And the colors of the lampwork are so rich and saturated--I especially love that ocher one with the olive green flower, it really pops! These were really a pleasure to design with, just the right size--not so big that they overwhelm the other beads, but large enough to really stand out.

All the metal in this piece is solid copper--even the ball chain! I had some nice plated oval chain I could have used on the pendant portion to hang my green flowers from, but the purist in me rebelled and I used some of my own oval chain instead (I made a small amount once as an experiment). I made it kind of long, so you could layer it with copper chains if you wanted:

Pay no attention to the beer can behind the mannequin.

(I just love the bell shape of those tobacco-colored recycled glass beads.)

(You'll notice I used Melissa Meman's ultra-cool ball chain ends again! They are an interesting design element all by themselves.)

Sue has a lovely assortment of chiclet beads and cabochons in her shop right now (not to mention lots of other fabulous goodies!)--swing by and get 'em while they last!

Keirsten

This is a blog hop! Be sure to check out all the other participants' designs:

Guests

Shai Williams

Erin Prais-Hintz

Kari Asbury

Carolyn Lawson

Merja Sundstrom

Art Jewelry Elements Members

Susan Kennedy

Diana Ptaszynski

Linda Landig

Lesley Watt

Melissa Meman

Caroline Dewison

Francesca Watson

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Rebekah Payne

Keirsten Giles

Kristen Stevens

We're All Ears May Reveal

Zigzag Nerite Shells

I got a little silly with this month's inspiration.

I made FIVE pair of earrings based on this theme! I'm not sure what got into me...I rarely use black or true red, but the nerite shell motif really inspired me, especially the stripy black patterns.

Turns out I had lots of beads to work with, and you don't mess with The Muse so I let her go.

This pair sports a duo of incised, glazed stoneware stick elements by Petra Carpreau of Scorched Earth, in a lovely caramel color with black stripes (they make me think of pretzel sticks and I want badly to nibble on them.) I think this might be the first time I've used her work--I've been hoarding an entire container of it! I introduced the red element with red jasper, and added ivory bone rounds to the earwires. I added my textured beadcaps in sterling to the jasper.

This pair incorporates some etched red agate tubes and my poppy caps in sterling silver. I added batik and plain ivory bone beads to the bottom to introduce the ivory color and add more of the black patterning, and then popped some butterscotch amber roundels onto the earwires (I got this wonderful opaque amber locally at Powderhorn Trading and I am in LOVE with it.)

For this pair I started with some black and white patterned beads from my stash--these are actually from a jewelry making party hosted by my friend Ada years and years ago. I'm not sure what they're made of, they feel like maybe wood. She has traveled the world so they could be from anywhere! I added red jasper sticks and my textured beadcaps, both traditional round ones and some small folded poppy ones, and more of that delish amber to the earwires.

This pair relies on more beads from Ada's jewelry party--a pair of striped cones! Again I've combined them with red jasper (I just LOVE this stone), ivory bone, and more amber. The cones make me think of a sporty fez. I think this pair is actually my favorite, this is the first time I've ever tried vertically wrapping a bead like this--I was inspired by Brenda McGowan--her shop is on vacation right now, but you can check out her sold items. Lisa at Angry Hair Jewelry also has some items with this vertical wrapping--LOVE her style too. I would buy her clean out if I had a spare $5,000 and my ear piercings hadn't healed up for lack of adornment.

Lastly, I dipped again into my Petra Carpreau stash for these lipstick red "bobblers." Boy, it felt like I spent hours trying to find the right beads to go with these. I finally settled on these black manol buri beads and of course ivory bone and more amber. I added a little vertical wire wrap again to keep the little seeds in line, they're kind of naughty.

This was fun! Head over to the Earrings Everyday blog to see what Erin cooked up with this month's inspiration, and to get links to other bloggers' reveal posts!

These will all be listed in my Etsy shop over the next few days.

Crazy Jackpot Giveaway and New Monthly Challenge

We're out of our minds over at Earrings Everyday--out of our minds with inspiration and giveaways!

The incomparable Erin Prais-Hintz has put together both a colossal giveaway, as well as volunteered to captain Earrings Everyday's new monthly earring design challenge. Look at these fabulous prizes you can win!

Hop on over to Earrings Everyday to enter to win, and to see this month's design inspiration! We have new members, new designs, and a new look! Come see us!

Baubles & Beads Design Team Reveal

Earlier this summer I was invited to be part of the Baubles & Beads Design Team. I accepted! First on the agenda was a challenge using a packet of supplies sent to the members by Baubles & Beads last month. Here's a picture of what I received:

I took the picture above as a "teaser" shot, so I didn't capture everything. Here are the other items:

(Yes, there was a pair of the square brass elements. I might have experimented on the other one with a hammer...) The spool is copper core wire in "Vintage Bronze."

I had intended to do two pieces with the items, but so far I have only been able to finish one of them (this one is mostly done):

Of course I can't bear to leave a piece of metal unaltered, so I flattened out the brass bib, transferred a digital pattern from Aesthetic Addiction to it with Press N Peel and a household iron, and then etched it. I love the weight of this component, it's a more than generous enough gauge (18 maybe?) for etching, and of course the edges are all nicely rounded and finished, so no grinding or sanding necessary! It's raw brass, making it perfect for etching or patina work.

After I etched it, I added holes and tube rivets at the bottom to hang things, and antiqued it in ammonia fumes:

Then I colored it with blue and green dye-oxide Swellegant patinas from B'Sue Boutiques, adding several coats of Age-It from Sculpt Nouveau to make it look a little older, and eventually sealing it with multiple coats of Permalac and Renaissance Wax:

The teal and olive green cording were the inspiration for the whole piece, so I used the cording to make tassels (my first tassels ever!). I used vintage brass beadcaps for the tassels, ammonia fumed to black and then lightly colored with gilder's paste, adding my own agate, kyanite and Russian amazonite beads. I added a couple of the brass cubes from Baubles & Beads to the dangling beads.

For the strands to hang the bib, I knotted turquoise and jade onto olive green Irish waxed linen, and finished them off with more of the little brass cubes (I love the way they look knotted onto cording). No clasp yet, but it's almost done!

I have another project in mind for the remaining items. Can't wait to get started on it! It will involve more tassels, with the other two skeins of cording (this silky, supple cording is perfect for tassels! And since it's nylon, you can even seal the ends with a thread burner if you wish), and I'm envisioning some texture and patina on the square and round lattice brass elements.

Check out the links below to see all the other designs created with the same kit in different color palettes!

You can also sign up for the giveaway to win your own kit and use the 20% off coupon code BPSEP through September 30, 2013 at the baublesandbeads.com shop.

Michelle Mach
Lori Anderson
Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp 
Erin Prais-Hintz 
Jean Yates

Baubles and Beads Design Team

I was recently invited to join the Baubles & Beads Design Team--if you haven't checked out the Baubles & Beads online store, you must! I especially like their selection of faux sea glass beads, vintage-style metal flower elements, glass domes, and floral collage sheets (they carry a lot of Nunn Design items, so their supplies present tons of creative possibilities!)

The design team completes design challenges using a surprise packet of items sent to the participants. Here is a little sneak peak of some of the items I received:

The reveal of the participants' designs will be September 18 on the Baubles & Beads blog--stay tuned!